Arthropod feeding device



' Oct. 10, 1967 w s ET AL 3,345,974

' ARTHROPOD FEEDING DEVICE Filed March 7, 1966 r" I Tp/Z I L Q L A 3 Fig. 4

v INVENTORS William 6. Phillips BY John W. .Brown 24 hfi ,4 5

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Filed Mar. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 534,571 3 Claims. (Cl. 119-51) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

The invention relates in general to a feeding device. More particularly, it relates to a self-feeding device having utility in the dispension of nutrients to arthropods in liquid form.

In the prior art processes, adult arthropods, e.g., mosquitoes, held for longevity tests are maintained with a liquid sugar, e.g., sucrose diet, which is fed on cotton pads placed on' the'marquisette tops of longevity cartons. The surface of these sucrose pads dry out rapidly and frequently become contaminated with molds. As a result, in order to provide an adequate supply of sucrose, fresh pads saturated with the sugar must be added to the mosquito carton every 24 to 48 hours. This is considered to be an unnecessary utilization'of manpower and material. The use of the instant feeding device markedly reduces the material and manpower involved in the feeding process, since the feeders never need to be refilled during the longevity determination, and generally only once during the life span of the colonies, which ultimately results in improved adult longevity and egg production.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide for and disclose a device for the dispension of nutrients to arthropods.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for and disclose a self-feeding device for the dispension of nutrients to arthropods.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for and disclose a self-feeding device for the continuous dispension of nutrients to arthropods.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a side view of the feeding device in a container.

FIGURE 2 shows a side view of the feeding device through section 22 of the container of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 shows a partial sectional view of the feeding device.

FIGURE 4 shows an exploded view of the container assembly.

FIGURE 5 shows a vertical view of the feeding device.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the arthropods, e.g., mosquitoes, on which the tests are to be conducted, are placed into cylindrical container 10, which may be constructed of any suitable material, e.g., paper, plastic or metal. The container may be of any convenient size. Wire screen 18, which comprises a circular flat wire screen covering the container 10, is positioned on the upper portion of the container 10, thereby completing the inclosure thereof. In the alternative, a material such as paper, plastic or a metal may be substituted for wire screen 18 and the cylindrical container perforated in order to provide the necessary aeration. Cap 12, which comprises a circular cap of a material identical to container with a major portion of the inside diameter removed, is positioned on top of wire screen 18, thereby securing said screen to the container. The cap may be secured to the container by masking tape or any other suitable material. Wire screen 18 contains 3,345,974 Patented Oct. 10, 1967 passageway 42 suitably contoured to receive silo feeders inclosure 20, while at the same time, to exclude cylindrical reservoir 16. Cylindrical reservoir 16 comprises a container having a top portion 28 and a bottom portion 30, as shown in FIGURE 2. Integral silo feeders inclosure 20 extends from the center of the bottom side of cylindrical reservoir 16 in a downward direction therefrom. Silo feeders inclosure 20 comprises a narrow rectangular shaped inclosure having a front wall 32 and a back wall 33, as shown in FIGURE 5. Extending from the top to bottom in a vertical direction throughout silo feeders inclosure 20 are conduits 36. Positioned at the upper end of conduits 36 are flanges 34. Encompassed within silo feeders inclosure 20 in a center position thereof and in a direction parallel to conduits 36 is loading conduit 40. Feeder holes 22, comprising a row of holes or orifices 0.031" in diameter, .are positioned vertically on both front wall 32 and back wall 33 of silo feeders inclosure 20. The feeder holes are positioned directly over the center of conduits 36 and extend from the interior to the exterior of the silo feeders inclosure. The row of vertical holes serve as a means of access by the mosquitos to the food supply. Positioned'within each of conduits '36 are cotton plugs 38 comprising a roll of ordinary dental cotton. The cotton serves as a wick to absorb the nutrients, thereby making it available to the arthropods feeding through holes 22. Cotton plug 38 is compressed by flange 34 positioned at the upper ends of conduits 36. The device is charged by means of loading conduit 40. Conduits 36 are sealed by plugs 24 comprising a cylindrical hollow plug having a reduced outside diameter and constructed of any suitable material, e.g., polyethylene or styrene. The reduced outside diameter of plug 24 is of a size sufficient to be compatible with the inside diameter of conduit 36, thereby insuring the seal thereof. The loading conduit is sealed by solid plug 26, which may be constructed of material identical to silo plug 24. When the device is fully charged, silo feeders inclosure 20 is inserted into wire screen passageway 42 and the device is ready for use.

The manner of operation will now be described. Reservoir 16 and silo feeders inclosure 20 attached thereto are inverted. Conduit plugs 24 and loading conduit plug 26 are removed and cotton plugs 38 are inserted into conduits 36, thereby extending therethrough from end to end thereof. Reservoir 16 is charged with the nutrient, e.g., a 0.3M sucrose solution. Plugs 24 are replaced and the device is held in an upright position, thereby allowing the nutrient to run down into conduits 36, thereby saturating cotton plugs 38 contained therein. The device is recharged and loading conduit plug 26 is replaced. This completes charging of the device. The silo feeders inclosure of the reservoir silo feeders inclosure combination is inserted through passageway 42 of wire screen 18 and the appara tus is now ready for use.

Experiments were conducted to show a comparison of results obtained by the utilization of the prior art method and the instant apparatus. Twenty-one runs were conducted in accordance with each method. Fifty mosquistoes (female Aedes aegypti), were utilized in each run for a total of one thousand and fifty mosquitoes. The runs, i.e., prior art method and method utilizing the instant apparatus, were conducted simultaneously. The conditions, e.g., temperature, humidity and light, under which the comparison was made, were identical. A 0.3M sucrose solution was utilized as the feed material. The results obtained are set forth below.

Example 1 Twenty-one runs each comprising fifty mosquitoes were placed in an aerated container. A cotton pad saturated with the sucrose daily was placed inside the container, thereby constituting the sole source of food. The mean 3 number of days for the twenty-one runs necessary to attain a 25, 50, 75 and 100% mortality of the mosquitoes is set forth below:

Days: Percent 25.8 25 35.5 '50 44.7 75 65.1 100 Example 2 Twenty-one runs each comprising fifty mosquitoes were conducted utilizing the instant apparatus. Only one charge of the 0.3M sucrose solution was required during the mosquitoes life span. The mean number of days necessary for the twenty-one runs to attain a 25, 50, 75 and 100% mortality of the mosquitoes is set forth below:

Days iPercent 48.3 25 56.7 50 64.2 75 81.7 100 ent disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

We claim: 7

1. An arthropod feeding device comprising a container having a perforated portion, a removable cap therefor, a reservoir means located adjacent the top of the container, integral loading and conduit means extending in a downward direction from the reservoir means, said conduit means including orifices extending laterally from the interior to the exterior along a substantial portion of the length thereof, and said conduit means being encompassed within the container.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 comprising a series of conduit means.

3. A device in accordance with claim 1 comprising 4 conduit means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,176,345 10/1939 Hurwitt 43131 2,234,500 3/1941 Moore 43-131 3,086,498 4/1963 Reynolds et al. 119-17 3,118,427 1/ 1964 Stanzel 1l9--157 3,220,383 11/1965 Bruner 119-17 3,272,376 9/1966 Tierney et al. 119-17 X ALDRICH F. M'EDBERY, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ARTHROPOD FEEDING DEVICE COMPRISING A CONTAINER HAVING A PERFORATED PORTION, A REMOVABLE CAP THEREFOR, A RESERVOIR MEANS LOCATED ADJACENT THE TOP OF THE CONTAINERR, INTEGRAL LOADING AND CONDUIT MEANS EXTENDING IN A DOWNWARD DIRECTION FROM THE RESERVOIR MEANS, SAID CONDUIT MEANS INCLUDING ORIFICES EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM THE INTERIOR TO THE EXTERIOR ALONG A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THE LENGTH THEREOF, AND SAID CONDUIT MEAS BEING ENCOMPASSED WITHIN THE CONTAINER. 